Product Description

Lunch Money is an exciting, fast-paced,
multi-player card game that combines
dark, psychological images with the raw
dynamics of a merciless street fight.

This set is a complete game for two or
more people. The two decks that come in
the box are sufficient for at least four
people. If you have more players, you may
want to combine another set of cards, or
simply be willing to reshuffle the discard
pile when the draw pile runs out.

This game is SO AWESOME! It takes a while to get used to, but once you've got it, you can't stop. It's not only challenging, but the cards, flavor text, and trash talking you can do while playing this game make it a hillarious must have. If you've got any questions, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll answer as best as I can.

P.S. There is also an expansion and sequel to this game. They are Lunch Money: Sticks and Stones, and Beer Money. The best part of all is that any cards you have can be mixed and matched to your liking, even if they are from different sets (Ex. You can make the deck of cards you use from Luch Money and Beer Money and so on.... however, since Sticks and Stones is an expansion, it alone cannot be played with).

I believe, as well as everyone I have come in contact with that this game ROCKS!!!! It quite simply keeps you playing for hours on end.

For all the people who think this sucks:

First, those who don't like the art work..it is a VERY well designed piece. The typography is superb as well as the layout and the photography.

The game is not hard to learn AT ALL!!!!! Just skim over the instructions and look up what the different special cards do when you want to use them...It should take a person with average intelligence about 10 minutes to learn how to play this game.

For those who think it's sick. GET OVER IT!! It's just a game! It's no different than games like spades or hearts where you get to take people down.

For those who want a different game that is LOADS of fun....You should try and find this game...WELL worth the money!!

...and those who don't. Remove the spooky theme entirely and you have a very complicated game that's fast paced but has a steep learning curve. Add the theme back in, and you also have a great laugh that encourages players imaginations and story-telling skills. the only reason it's gotten bad reviews here is because of hyper-sensitive religious-types and others who have found the game to be too complicated. This is a REAL gamer's game!

This game is a great buy. There has been plenty of times in my day where I'm with my friends and we dont have enough time for a game of something like the overly acclaimed, money gusling game known as magic. Also there has been few things that are as satisfying by playing a 'humiliation' on summone's precious big combo and hit them with a 'hail mary'.

However this game is not to be overly played. It is meant to be played for an hour or so and then its time for something else. Unless your one of the fellows like me that actually create a fighting scenario and discribe the havoc you do with your attacks.

The artwork is great and very dark. Very fitting for this game.

Perhaps the greatest thing is you only need 1 set of cards instead of having to buy pack after pack...*cough* magic *cough*.

This game is pure enjoyment. True, the images and names on the cards can be disturbing, but the concept is to beat the crap out of other school kids, so why wouldn't they be? All that aside, the game is just plain fun. Come on, any game where you get to pimp slap your friends is worth the price.

A lot of reviews claim that the game is no fun or not worth playing, but if this were true, would it be out of stock at almost every gaming store? They cant seem to keep it on the shelves long enough. Anyway, I guess everyone who gave it a good rating must be a little disturbed, but arent we all?

The idea of this game is that you are a Catholic school kid beating the crap out of other school kids (who are trying to do the same to you) for their lunch money. If you take offense at that, stop reading and go live in your 'happy' world where everyone gets along.

The game requires the reading of the rules, as the cards don't say their effects other than damage. Once everyone is somewhat clear on the rules, the game is fast, furious, and addictive. Take on personas of your character and talk to the other players like it is real. Yes, it's a bit dark and twisted, but that's the humor in it. Before you start playing, make sure you are playing it with people who find this sort of idea funny. Playing with an unhappy or uncooperative player will just annoy/depress everyone else. But, basically, you'll never know if you like it or not until you try it.

I don't know who all the people are giving this game bad reviews. Everyone I have shown the game to has found it pretty entertaining and about half of them bought it themselves. Like the manual says, be creative when describing your beatings. Offending and insulting the other players is a huge part of the game. I personally think it deserves a 4/5 but I am rating it 5 to make up for the freaks giving it 1s.

Lunch Money is an easy-to-learn game that has an odd charm to it. We play it during lunch at work and have found that it keeps us coming back time and time again. We've bought two decks, which allows 10 people to play (though with quite a bit of re-shuffling). It has great player interaction, though we don't bother with descriptive attacks. While not a real thinker, there are some interesting strategies with a dose of bluffing added in. A classic!

Lunch Money is a game for those of you who love to just sit around with a bunch of friends and just play games and talk without actual violence. I suggest this game to anyone who does not take everything in life literally. The game is based in a Catholic Yard and does say some derogatory things about Jesus but is still in all of good fun. Great graphics and great idea. I spend lunch every day playing Lunch Money. Get it!

After reading the various reviews, I was shocked that numerous people were blasting the game away in the reviews, but stating very little content on gameplay or describing the game other than how offended they were by the cards.

First of all, this game is dark. Very dark, a touch on the sadistic side, and in a way nearly surreal or perhaps psychological. The photographs on the cards depict a young, yet innocent girl cast in shadows or sometimes slightly blurred images with various weapons and maneuvers. The cards also have quotes on them as well to help enforce the dark air surrounding the little girl. These cards are MEANT to be disturbing. For example, one of the weapon cards has the girl looking very innocent while holding a very large and menacing wrench behind her back. Some of the quotes on the cards help solidify the dark images, such as 'Call me Daddy' or 'I'm in my happy place. Aren't you?'. One of the quotes (on one of the most powerful cards) does seem to be a bit offensive as it reads something to the effect of 'Jesus hates you, and so do I'.

The game tries to capture the child-like playground fight atmosphere. HOWEVER, I would not call it a 'playground brawl' atmosphere, but rather one of a young tormented child seeking revenge on a playground bully who is victimizing her. A few of the cards are slightly humorous, but all in all, this is not meant to be a 'funny' game at all.

The game-play is fast with each player owning 15 pennies representing their health. Play continues around in a circle as each player attacks any one of their opponents. There are numerous defence cards and some cards allow you to pin other players, thus enabling the other players to dish out free attacks to the pinned player. The game play echoes games like Nuclear War and the 3 Stooges card game. I do prefer Nuclear war over Lunch Money, but Lunch Money is a FASTER game so if you are out early there is not quite as much down time.

When I first saw this game, I had no idea how to play, but I was completely sold on the images and the mood that the cards set. After playing the game I would rate the gameplay as a 4 out of 5 (beating 3 Stooges, but not quite meeting the complexity of Nuclear War). The artwork and mood that this game sets makes this game a 5 in my book. This game is DEFINITELY worth the price that you pay for it.

The game is also best suited for 4 players. I haven't tried it with more than 4 players, but I definitely know that it isn't quite as much fun with only two or three players. The more players the merrier!

Do NOT buy this game if you do not like dark images or if you are offended by the picture's attempt to cast a psychological air of torment. But if you like truely unique games, and enjoy some light-hearted fun, then this game is for you.

Lunch Money is one of those games that you can never quit. It doesn't matter how late it is, how early you have to get up, or how mad your girlfriend is going to be, there's always time for 'just one more hand.' The magic in Lunch Money is this: You pick out which kid in the school yard you want to take a swing at, and then try and back it up with as much violence and bravado as you can muster. I've often seen two players out of a group target each other exclusively, with the rest of the group egging them on (knowing it will easier to take out the one bruised survivor). I've seen the entire group turn on one loud-mouth player and pummel him into oblivion. Indeed, we have a house rule that states the winner of the last hand is the first one taken out in the new hand. Much like it was in recess when we were kids, justice is swift and painful.

The game design lends itself well to quick learning. The only problem new players have is figuring out when they can play some of the special cards, such as Choke, Headlock, and the dreaded Poke in the Eye.

Except for the small and demented portion of the population who cannot handle violence in any form, I feel safe in recommending Lunch Money to anybody. There's nothing quite like the feeling of drawing the Hail Mary card when you're sitting on a humilation. You just KNOW someone's going home crying....

I was thouroughly impressed by the unique idea of the game.
Being only 15 if was fun to poke fun at my friends as we played,
and it was even more fun when we secretly ganged up on
someone who made the mistake of going to the bathroom.

One thing i did not like was the steep learning curve. It took
me a while to understand how the block and dodge and grab
moves worked. I wouldnt recomend the game to anyone who
has a short temper as you will soon throw the game in the trash,
because the instructions offer little help.

But I have read many reviews on this game and they all say it
is too simple and not very complex in concept. But if you're into
that crap then go play magic, this games for just playing at lunch
with you friends, hence the name. I was not bored by this game,
as i always wanted to play again if i was beaten so i could get
the other person back. The nasty comments you can make can
make other players become frustrated and make stupid moves,
again, not for short tempers.

I highly recomment for anyone who has any long car rides in
the near future (but not with your parents), or is just looking for
sumthing to do when you have a few minutes to spare. It is not
meant to be loaded with different strategies, and there will be no
500 page guides written for it but it's fun as hell.

I played this game for the first time last night.
We got through about 6 games of it in just over an
hour. WOW. That was cool.

Here's a game that's given both HIGH and LOW
ratings seemingly for the same reasons. Truth be
told it is for the same reasons.

Lunch Money is a game that simply WILL NOT appeal
to everyone. Those who detest luck based
games....stay far, far away as everything is based
on card draw. You will be hit and there will be
times when nothing in your hand can stop it.
Players who do not like player elimination stay
even further away, as that is the main goal of the
game....eliminate other players to win. Players
who don't like games that encourage ganging up on
a single player stay furthest away of all. It's
not a rule or anything but it's human nature.
There is even 1 card that does extremely encourage
this type of play.

HOWEVER those of us who are into violent and
senseless acts grab a copy and enjoy! Fans of
Quintent Tarentino or Guy Ritchie films, see this
as a story by them based on a playground. Players
who revel in the "Take that" type of game stand
proud with a fist full of Lunch Money cards THIS
IS YOUR GAME!

I guess the one thing that appeals most to me is
the speed of the game. Bam, bam, bam, done. It's a
great little game that can be played on your lunch
break several times and still is fun enough to
bring out at a game night and toss around with
several people.

Bottom line here is know the game before you buy
but more importantly know the type of gamer YOU
are before you buy. If you are into this type of
dark material have fun.

It takes awhile to get the hang of this game but once you got it down it is a fun game! Smack talking makes it even better, I could play this for hours...can't wait for the sequal 'Beer Money' due out in May! What is also great is you can play it with as few as 2 people or as much as 10 it is by far one of the funniest card games ever!

Definately an 'add beer and several people and watch chaos ensue' game. Form allies, backstab, fight to win, beat up and get beaten down. All in all it's a fun and violent card game. Owes a lot to the Car Wars Card game, another great 'sit around the table and beat each other up' party game.

Atlas Games produces this sick little game, and much fun it is. You get 110 standard-sized playing cards in a thin cardboard box, and one sheet of paper with the rules printed on it. Each player plays the role of a vicious little girl in the playground fighting her rivals for lunch money.

Before going on to describe the game itself, words must try to describe the design of the cards. A photographer has photographed his young daughter in a variety of inventive ways, creating a collection of blurred, dodged, shadowy, and jagged images that invoke a dark gothic atmosphere. When I first played the game, I didn't even notice straight away that the photographs were of girls, and had imagined that boys were shown. Some of the pictures need concentration to make sense of. Adding to the feel are many little phrases in a CHildiSh miX oF cAses, such as 'I'm in MY HappY place. Aren't you?' which appears on the Choke card. The designs will appeal to people with a young and gothic sense of style and humour, while others may find them a bit disturbing.

Each player has a hand of five cards, which he replenishes after each turn. Players attack with simple attacks like Kick and Jab, and defend with cards like Dodge and Block. Attacks do damage points, which are subtracted from a starting score of fifteen, until a player is knocked out of the game at zero. Some cards like Hail Mary do lots of damage, while others, such as the bizarrely-named Pimp Slap do very little. Players may choose to keep their Block and Dodge cards for the big attacks. There are cards with special powers, such as Stomp, which halves the damage of the opponent's next attack, and Poke in the Eye, which renders the victim incapable of blocking or dodging the next attack.

Other cards act in conjunction, such as Grab and Headlock, and so it is possible that a player might play three or four cards on the trot to make up some fearsome attack. Some counter-attacks can be a nasty surprise too, such as Humiliation which sets up an attacker for an instant and near-unstoppable reprisal.

Learning the game is not tremendously easy, largely because there are many special combinations of cards, and so many cards with their own little quirks. The rules are not particularly clearly written either, and require a bit of interpretation and re-reading. To aid myself, I wrote a chart summarising how the various cards interact. Generous chap that I am, I have it downloadable for you here as a Rich Text File (.rtf), and I hope you find it useful. Once the game is mastered, though, it is nice and quick, and I found that first-time players are happy to play several games of it in one session.

The game is nicely balanced. At first, I thought that the weapon cards like Knife, and Chain were too powerful, since the user of such a card does not discard it after use, and can use it again and again, and there are only four Disarm cards in the pack. However, now I have played many times, I see that the weapon cards are not so great, partly because only by discarding cards can new cards be picked up. Similarly Headlock and Choke cards seemed at first to be pretty poor things, because they were difficult to get to work, and rendered both the attacker and the victim vulnerable to further attacks, as well as being very slow ways to finish someone off. The arbitrary viciousness of the game compensates for this, though, as players will usually choose to attack the weaker victims first.

The fight is all-against-all. It needn't be - one could have teams or temporary alliances, but the basic game is one of every little girl for herself. Part of the malicious fun comes from ganging up on one player at a time. If a player has not blocked or dodged a few attacks, then it seems likely that he has none of these cards, so if you have a nice Uppercut card in your hand, then you are likely to choose to attack that same poor player, because it would be a shame to waste it on someone else capable of defending themselves.

One house rule I play is that the player who finishes off another player replenishes his hand not from the main pile of cards, but from the cards of his defeated foe. This means that there is an added incentive for being the one who defeats an opponent, since the victorious player gets to choose the cards from the hand of the fallen, and so is likley to end up with some particularly good ones.

It is a good, well-balanced game, with lots of replay potential. It is nice and quick, a bit sick, and with a bit of a learning hurdle at first. Recommended.

Positives: Riotous fun. Fast-moving with experience. Combinations lead to further combinations and back-and-forth mid-game fights. Easily modified with house-rules. You are not out of the game until that final coin of lunch money is taken. Many games are won by a player with only one coin left, so early punishment does not mean the end for you.

Negatives: Rules can be very confusing to beginners, and crossover games with other gaming groups can lead to confusion and disappointment when house rules conflict. Some of the combinations are almost impossible to complete, and lead to wasted cards in your hand. The end-game often becomes a swap-fest as both players attempt to draw defensive hands and/or super-powerful attack cards.

Verdict: Seems like the negatives outweigh the positives, but once a group has settled these differences the game really rolls. Just make sure you play with solid friends, because bodily threats of harm are the rule, and this type of aggressive behavior turns many people off of the game. The game is really what you make it. And the louder and more inventive your taunts become, the better the game moves along. My suggestion is to play with a group of friends who will not pick on a single person until s/he is out. This type of ganging-up simply ticks off the person, leaves them out of the game, and likely makes them unwilling to play again. Of course, this is a policy that I hold for any game.

This game is an all right game in terms of its mechanics, but the game is really about the insults you get to say to your friends. If you try to play this as an ordinary sit-down card game, you are missing the point. You need to pull out the vilest and most demeaning insults you can think of, and not just when the cards require it. If you play this game with people not in the spirit of the game, it could be a boring game. If you are playing with people who will take the insults personally, the game will end in fight. But I have only played with people of lighter hearts yet sharp tongues and thoroughly enjoyed the times I've played this game.

If you ever wanted to beat the snot out of someone without really hurting them, and having a blast doing it, Lunch Money is for you. This is a card game utilizing a very tongue in cheek (or more like fist in mouth) interpretation of a street fight at a school yard for each others lunch money. The winner is the last player remaining conscious.

The actual play of the game is very simplistic, and quite repetitious. Each player is dealt five cards which may consist of any four types of cards - Attack, Defense, Weapon, and Special. In general, a player in turn plays an Attack card on another player, and that player responds with any Defense cards. When an attack gets through, the player takes damage. When a player accumulates fifteen damage, he becomes unconscious and is out of the game. However, the meat of the game is not in what card you play, but how you play it. This game will bring out the boisterous banter of everyone involved. For example: 'Here, have a Spinning Backfist for breakfast!' 'Who do you think youre dealing with here, some weenie? Ill Block that, Grab your puny wrist, and give you a double dose of the Big Combo!' 'You and what army, choir boy! (Humiliation).'

The high quality cards are set in a dark mood with a sadistic little girl motif that accents the game magnificently. Just be forewarned, that if you are overly sensitive to making light of heavy handed mayhem, steer clear. Otherwise, Lunch Money joins other party card games like Give Me The Brain, or Guillotine, as sure winners.

Lunch money is an action-based card game where Catholic school girls beat each other up. This schoolyard brawl is one mean fight. With the use of hammers, knives, chains, and the devastating 'Hail Mary', you make the nun's ruler to the fingers look like a massage.

This is a fun game to play with close friends who don't mind getting viciously insulted. The more you can insult your friends during play, the more fun the game is. The winner of this game should be able to talk the talk, and make sure the others get beat down, so they can't walk.

I bought Lunch Money because two friends of mine said it was great fun. While I did enjoy playing a couple rounds of the game, it lost its luster fairly soon after that.

The fluff really has nothing to do with the gameplay. In the game, school girls beat the snot out of each other, causing players to lose their lunch money (in the form of actual pocket change players provide). The game could have been fluffed/skinned with virtually any other demographic: vikings, pirates, bullfrogs, etc.

Atlas obviously chose school girls because it heightens the creepiness of the game. While giving guilty pleasure, the imagery soon becomes hackneyed, leaving you with a game that's only mediocre.

Alright, first off, people either need to lighten up or just avoid games that might easily offend them right off the bat! 'Lunch Money' is a gorgeous non-collectible card game from Atlas Games that simulates some hard-core hand-to-hand combat. The really sinister thing about it is that the cards feature photographs of a young girl in various states of rage or torment (as the tormetor, not the tormentee). For many of my friends and I (all of whom skirt the edges of the Goth lifestyle through music, art, decor, etc.) this game is ultra-cool! It's not cerebral. It's not a game that requires that much thought, but it is a fast and furious combat simulator that if played with your tongue in your cheek, can provide you with a few minutes of twisted fun. In the end, all the low-scoring reviews submitted by those who were somehow offended by the game only made it that much more appealing to me! Check it out! And while you're at it, check out Gother Than Thou by Savant Garde Entertainment for another Goth-themed card game with cool photography on the cards (this one with a wackier sense of humour, though)

The first few times I played this card game I really enjoyed it. The dark and violent theme was very enticing. However, after a few plays the game lost its magic.

There is very little strategy in this game. The cards you draw are totally random. Also, since any player may attack any other player, often two players will gang up on one player and that player will have no chance of surviving. Therefore, this game would probably be best for two players.

However, if you enjoy dark photography pick this card game up. The art is a delight.

I was initially impressed with the artwork on the cards, was amused by the theme, and was looking forward to playing. Then I started reading the rules.

After reading about 1/2 of the rules, I realized that no one was really paying attention, I certainly wasn't going to remember them, and we may as well just start playing and look up the rules as we went along.

Of course, this really slows down the game, and we ended up making a lot of illegal moves.

While the artwork is good, the cards should have included more information about what they could be used for. Presentation of information is important. Good art will never save poorly presented information.

In the end, I probably won't give it away, since I spent the time to learn it. Once I got the hang of it, it was marginally fun. But if I need a quick game I'm more likely to pull out Plague & Pestilence or Aquarius.

For all the discussion there has been about this game, entirely too much of it has centered around its 'High Concept' and not nearly enough on gameplay. Unfortunately, said gameplay is thin, thin, thin.

The designers could have devoted more space on the cool, creepy cards to clarifying what the cards do.

The designers could have spent more time making it a fun, replayable experience.

This game is fairly poor, enhanced by disturbingly sadistic artwork and concepts, and I'm sure it would make early teens delight in just how nasty and borderline offensive some people might view it as.

Unfortunately, it has nothing else going for it except awful gameplay.

Lunch money is another card-based melee simulation, like the 3 Stooges or Nuclear War. It's a slightly-below-average game to begin with, but it's the artwork that makes it pretty much unplayable among my gaming group. The gimmick here is that the cards representing all the punches, kicks and other sparring maneuvers, are all presented by a evil-looking little girl in her nightgown. I suppose this is intended to make the impact of the game either disturbing or ironic. I found it overpowered the experience completely. The cards make the game seem foolish, without making it funny. If you're looking for a quick funny combat game, I'd recommend one of the [page scan/se=Cheapass%20Games/sf=manufacturer/fi=stockall.asc/ml=20]Cheapass games instead.

I enjoy most of the games that I play, and I take good care of them to make sure that I can play them for a long time to come. Thus, the idea of throwing away a game would usually be considered repungnant to me, yet that is what I did to this little beauty.

Whether you find the artwork funny or offensive (I fall towards the latter), the game is too difficult to learn, and, once you do, altogether not worth the time. It's basically a 'concept' game that didn't work too hard on the gameplay. I guess they hoped the 'hilarity' of the cards would suffice...nope.

If you are a serious gamer, avoid this game. If you really think the idea of sickly looking catholic school girls beating each other up is funny (and I know some do), then maybe this would be worth picking up at a discount. Bottom line: with so many great games out there, why waste your time on this trash?

To follow up on Laurie's comment, there is in fact no game here at all. The art is all it's got going for it; but if you want art, buy some art. If you want a game, buy somthing else.

This was a total waste of my money, and is in fact the only game I have ever *thrown away* (gasp!). I couldn't find anyone to take it even for free, and I certainly wasn't going to keep it around taking up space.

If you want to do the teens of America a favor, don't purchase this game. I regret having purchased this game. It is sadistic and blasphemous. I would have rated this game a zero, but that was not one of the options.

While I normally like dark humor, I found the images on the cards to really turn me off of the game.

But to top it off, they wasted the space on the cards by not putting any information about what the card should do. Instead, you must consult the rule book to determine which card can defend against which other card. The information is not difficult to memorize, but why should I? That just makes it harder to play a pick-up game.

Those two factors just make it a game I would rather not waste my time on when there are so many better games out there.

Other Resources for Lunch Money:

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